Six talking points from F1's visit to Imola

Lucky number seven for Hamilton

When life is going your way… Lewis Hamilton was absolutely in contention to beat Valtteri Bottas and Max Verstappen before the Virtual Safety Car was called to remove Esteban Ocon’s retired Renault – but it would have been close. As it was, the F1 equivalent of an open goal expanded in front of him to make his 93^rd victory so much easier.

His poor start dropped him behind pole-sitter Bottas and the fast-starting Verstappen, but a combination of the Finn’s compromised pace caused by a piece of Ferrari debris caught in his car and Hamilton’s decision to go longer before his pitstop made it likely he was going to jump both. As it turned out, the timing of the VSC allowed him to stop and return to the lead with a comfortable cushion. He doesn’t usually need luck, but it’s with him right now anyway, as he and Bottas delivered a record seventh consecutive constructors’ title for Mercedes-AMG. Seven, if you believe in such things, is a lucky number, isn’t it?

Fortune turns its back on Bottas and Verstappen

In contrast, his main rivals for the win couldn’t catch a break. Bottas picked up his piece of debris at Turn 7 (that’s Tosa in old money…) and couldn’t avoid running over it. He pointed the car straight at the debris to avoid picking up a puncture – and instead it lodged itself between the aerodynamic ‘barge boards’ behind his front wheels.

The duel between Bottas and Verstappen was gripping, with Max clearly looking quicker – if only he could get past. He kept the pressure up and with Bottas lacking downforce because of his extra ‘passenger’, the error evntually came at Rivazza. He’d locked up more than once through the double left-hander and on lap 42 ran wide into the edge of the gravel, which gave Verstappen the chance to make his move at the Tamburello chicane. “Send it!” said the Dutchman to his Red Bull pitwall after a fantastic move.

But his alarming right-rear tyre failure on the approach to the Villeneuve chicane pitched Max out of a sure-fire second place. To those who remember Imola from the past, particularly before the changes that were made before Ayrton Senna’s death at the track in 1994, it might have occurred that it was just as well the failure came on the circuit in its current configuration. As Nelson Piquet and Gerhard Berger could tell you, failures in the days before the chicanes were added tended to lead to serious accidents and injury. Perhaps Verstappen wasn’t so unlucky after all.

Ricciardo’s reason to smile

He doesn’t need much excuse to crack a grin, but Daniel Ricciardo admitted he couldn’t help but smile when Racing Point made the wrong call of pitting Sergio Perez during the safety car period following Verstappen’s tyre failure. The fateful call handed the Aussie and his Renault team a second podium of the season.

He’d qualified well in fifth in a car that has made great strides in recent weeks, but Ricciardo admitted the excellent Perez had got him beaten – and it was the Mexican who was set for the podium. Instead, the biggest grin in the paddock found himself up there sharing one of his trademark ‘Shoeys’ with Hamilton. As he said, “surreal”.

Gasly’s lost podium

Monza winner Pierre Gasly shone once again on his return to Italy, qualifying a brilliant fourth for AlphaTauri and running competitively in fifth from the start, admittedly behind Ricciardo. But the Renault had only got ahead when Gasly was inadvertently pincered by the slow-starting Hamilton, and he did well to avoid a collision.

Then on lap nine, despite Gasly showing decent pace, the team called him in to retire. A coolant leak spotted on the grid made it likely his Honda engine was going to fail at some point, and the sensible call was taken to quit before the inevitable occurred. Given where his team-mate ended up, Gasly must be wondering whether another visit to an Italian podium was on the cards.

Too little, too late for Kvyat?

Daniil Kvyat put in the kind of performance at Imola that showed what the Russian is really made of. After a poor showing at Portimao, where after the race the team’s press quote from Franz Tost didn’t even mention him, Kvyat put in a great charge after the safety car period. Like Perez, he stopped for tyres, but he used his new rubber to jump the Mexican and Alex Albon, then pulled a fabulous move on Charles Leclerc, around the outside at Piratella, to rise from seventh to fourth – and chase Ricciardo hard for that final podium position. Great points for AlphaTauri, who were delighted with his performance. But will it save his drive for 2021? Gasly is already confirmed to remain at the team next year, but the F1 paddock jungle drums suggest Kvyat might already have lost his drive. If so, what a shame when this is what he’s capable of.

Embarrassment for Albon and Russell

Was this the weekend when Alexander Albon’s F1 fate was sealed? Red Bull has consistently made it clear the plum drive as Verstappen’s team-mate is the Thai driver’s to lose – and his performance in Portimao appeared to suggest he was doing everything to guarantee that was exactly what he was going to do. Sadly, it didn’t get any better at Imola.

Albon stayed out during the safety car, but appeared to get caught out by cold tyres at the restart. Perez pulled off a strong pass at Villeneuve and in his desperation to hang in there and retaliate, he lost it on the exit of the corner. How Carlos Sainz Jr. missed him in the closely following McLaren, he’ll probably never know. After Verstappen’s retirement, Red Bull could have done with some points from Albon. Instead, he threw them away.

Sadly, the same can be said for the often unimpeachable George Russell. The Williams driver looked on for a point or two, until he lost control behind the safety car on the approach to Acque Minerali. To say the apologetic Brit was gutted and more than a little embarrassed is putting it lightly. One to put behind him, and quickly.

Photography courtesy of Motorsport Images.